Building board, also known as wallboard, plasterboard, or drywall, is one of the most commonly used building components in the world today. Building board is frequently used within the interior of a dwelling, where it functions both as a finished wall covering and as a structural room partition. Building board can also be used on the exterior of a dwelling, where it serves as a sheathing to provide weather protection and insulation. Building board can also be used as an interior facing for other structures as well, such as stairwells, elevator shafts, and interior ducting.
One particularly popular form of building board is known as gypsum board. Gypsum board is constructed by depositing a layer of cementitious gypsum slurry between two opposing paper liners. Gypsum slurry is the semi-hydrous form of calcium sulfate and has many physical characteristics that make it suitable for use as a building component. For example, gypsum boards generally have a smooth external surface, a consistent thickness, and allow for the application of finishing enhancements, such as paint. Gypsum board is also desirable because it provides a degree of fire resistance and sound abatement.
An example of a paper-covered gypsum board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,811 to Von Hazmburg. Von Hazmburg discloses a board that primarily consists of a thick gypsum core that is encased in a fibrous envelope consisting of both a manila sheet and a newsprint sheet. These sheet layers can be made from a conventional multi-cylinder paper making process.
Another popular form of building board is known as glass reinforced gypsum (GRG) board. An example of one such board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,979 to Baehr et. al. Baehr discloses a building board constructed from opposing glass fiber mats with an intermediate gypsum core. This construction provides a hardened external surface and is an improvement over earlier paper faced boards.
Yet another type of gypsum board is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,405 to Pilgrim. Pilgrim discloses a GRG board that is faced on one or both sides with a porous, nonwoven glass mat. The glass mat of Pilgrim is fully embedded into the slurry core. This is accomplished by vibrating the gypsum slurry to cause it to pass through the porous openings in the mat. Embedding the mat within the core as taught in Pilgrim results in a thin film of slurry being formed on the outer surface of the board. Building boards with this construction are referred to as embedded glass reinforced gypsum (EGRG) boards.
These various building board constructions offer many beneficial characteristics. However, none of these constructions provide for increased acoustical properties. As a result, these boards offer little, if any sound absorption or insulation, they act as a sound barrier. Sound absorption and insulation are especially important when the building board is used as a room partition or even as an exterior building component. Thus, there exists a need in the art for building boards with increased acoustical properties. More specifically, there is a need in the art for a board that absorbs sound waves. The present invention is aimed at achieving these and other objectives.